Tuesday, February 19, 2008

We all know Rebtel is a popular Mobile VOIP, well actually VOIP on mobile service. Here on Free Voip Hacks, we mentioned about Rebtel numerous times. However Recently, we received a negative review which might interest Rebtel Management to review their policies.

A visitor on VOIP Guide posted a comment on one of our older post which really got my attention. It's worth reading.

Ironically, the name of the comment posted was Rebyell :-) Still don't get it?

Here is the Rebtel VOIP (negative) Review:

I was a huge rebtel fan, operative word being WAS there. Here is my story, I will try to be factual and leave the emotion out as hard as that may be.

My in laws are from Russia, my wife like talking to her family. It is very important to me that she be able to communicate with them on a regular basis since it helps with her overall sense of well being.

Many months ago I saw CNN do a story on the top 10 next big companies and one was rebtel, they even show you how to make free international calls. So I looked into. I went to their website and looked at the posted rates, which were 1.9 for Russia. I thought wow this is great. So I signed up and told my wife the great news, she could call even more often now because these rates are awesome. Fast forward approximately 4 months. First thing I notice is that all my contacts went from being labled Russia to Kazahkstan, now my inlaws do not live in Kazahkstan they live in Russia, on of the older cities in Russia. At first I thought well computers are not perfect so maybe it was just a glitch, until my wife made a call and we were charged quadruple (a new rate of 7.9 cents a minute) what we had been on previous calls. Apparently Rebtel now designated my Russian inlaws as living in Kazahkstan even though they live in Russia, neat trick. So I did what any one would do I contacted them and asked what happen and why were my in laws being listed as Kazahkstan when they live in Russia. I didn't get an answer to my Kazahkstan question but the politely told me that they are constantly buying time from different vendors and sometimes the rates change, when this happens it is just too monumental to try and notify every user. The customer service rep also pointed out that the TOS state that rates can change with no advanced warning.

Now I thought ok I dont like it but yes they can change any time without advance notice and their TOS state this. So I look into this a bit further and find that the advertised rate for Kazahkstan is 4.8 cents a minute and Russia is still listed as 1.9 cents a minute yet my inlaws who are listed as kazahkstan have a rate of 7.8 cents a minute. WOW is this what you call a bait and switch, where I come from this gets your business license pulled and everyone filiing law suits.

I hope Rebtel guys read this and post a clarification.

Why I posted this?

Because, I believe Free Voip Hacks is a strong medium to communicate to the companies about their possible flaws/issues. We have proven in the past that it works. I remember hearing from Betmax when we posted about Nonoh Billing Issues.

We hope this platform will solve your worries about being cheated or ripped off by a VOIP Company. Do let us know your stories/review. Of course not just the negative ones. By the way before you try to write a negative competitor review, Let me tell you It won't be published. Only honest reviews are welcome. So go ahead and send in your reviews at shivkokroo@gmail.com